We fully agree with the call in your editorial for the timely completion of an independent study of the mental health care system in Massachusetts before closing critically important facilities such as Taunton State Hospital (...

The Herald News, Fall River, MA

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Posted Feb. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 27, 2013 at 11:40 PM

Posted Feb. 27, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 27, 2013 at 11:40 PM

» Social News

We fully agree with the call in your editorial for the timely completion of an independent study of the mental health care system in Massachusetts before closing critically important facilities such as Taunton State Hospital (“Piecing together the Mass. mental health care puzzle,” Feb. 27.)

As you correctly note, an adequately functioning mental health care system is critically important in improving the lives of a vulnerable segment of our population, and in ensuring the safety of all of our residents.

We believe the need for a study extends beyond care for people with mental illness to include people with all levels of developmental disabilities in Massachusetts, including intellectual disabilities and autism. We proposed such a study in the wake of the administration’s planned closure of another critically important state facility — the Glavin Regional Center in Shrewsbury, which provides 24-hour care to residents with severe and profound levels of intellectual disability.

Last fall, Representative Patricia Haddad, who chairs the mental health care study, strongly endorsed our proposal for an inclusive study of the Department of Developmental Services system, which would include an independent review of the costs and benefits of closing Glavin. The families of the remaining residents there desperately want the facility to stay open. They know that the community system of care in Massachusetts does not have the resources or oversight to ensure that their loved ones will receive the same level and quality of care that they currently receive at Glavn.

We understand Rep. Haddad will be supporting an amendment to the state budget bill in the House this spring, which would authorize the independent Glavin study. We would urge that this study be expanded to encompass the entire DDS system. We hope Rep. Haddad will bring the same level of leadership and commitment to getting this study enacted that she has brought to the approval and implementation of the mental health care study.